Man gets 10 years for fatal stabbing

Tuesday

A deadly dispute between two men in front of a North Linden house in November led to prison time yesterday for the one who wielded a knife.

A deadly dispute between two men in front of a North Linden house in November led to prison time yesterday for the one who wielded a knife.

Curley Edmonds, 53, lived at 1050 Loretta Ave. He had mental-health issues, his attorney said, and men in the neighborhood sometimes tried to take advantage of him by using his house as a place to stay or use drugs.

On Nov. 1, he was drinking a beer on his porch when one of those men, Darrell Lee Bronston, 50, began to shadow-box with Edmonds, a witness said. Bronston was homeless.

Edmonds told police he felt threatened after one of the blows caught him in the face, prosecutors said. He went inside, fetched a large kitchen knife and plunged it into Bronston's chest.

Edmonds then called 911 and admitted to the killing.

Yesterday, before his aggravated-murder trial was to start, Edmonds pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

His attorney, Richard Ketcham, said Edmonds agreed to the plea deal because the defense couldn't prove the stabbing took place inside the house, where Edmonds could claim self-defense.